We Three Kings
by qwertygal
Summary: A terrible date, a mission gone south, no room at the inn, and a shopping spree on Mason's time-appropriate counterfeit dime. How our three heroes find the spirit of Christmas in an unlikely place….each other. (TFP)
1. Chapter 1

_Edit December 27 - Added 2 lines to chapter 4 during Rufus' story time that for some reason went missing during my posting process...doesn't change the story, but was driving me crazy. I now realize the way I updated it, it may have sent out a bunch of unnecessary email alerts-Sorry about that!_

 _Think I just missed the challenge deadline on this one! Oh well, it needed some eleventh-hour polishing._

 _So the muse felt like wandering on this one. And, since it's Christmas, I let it. So a simple story about Christmas gifts turned into a 16,000 word monster, and is probably truly two or maybe even three different stories combined into one! It was meant to be divided into different POV scenes, rather than chapters, but because of its length, I've split it into chapters just to help with the reading experience._

 _Merry Christmas everyone!_

 _Oh—standard "I own absolutely nothing that follows" applies….with the exception of Wyatt's gift to Rufus. I do have one of those. Passed down through the generations because people think it's funny….read on, and you`ll understand._

* * *

We Three Kings

Rufus whistled low. "Wow. Where have you two been?"

"What are you talking about," asked Wyatt, as he yanked open his locker a little too forcibly.

Rufus waited before responding, watching as Jiya and Lucy hurried toward the change room that the women had appropriated months earlier.

"I mean, look at you—all gussied up in a suit, Lucy wearing some sort of dress….except I can't see it, since it's completely covered up by your jacket….very chivalrous, by the way."

Wyatt slammed the locker shut again, walking toward the wardrobe bay. "Just….drop it, okay?"

"What's with you tonight? After all, it's December 22nd, my friend, where's your Christmas spirit?"

"Don't have any."

"Oh—come on, scrooge….I bet you're a closet North Pole elf, aren't you?"

He watched as Wyatt scrunched his face up as though he were about to respond, but then relaxed, seeming to think better of it. Instead, he waved his arm at the racks of clothing, "Remind me where the hell we're going?"

Rufus sighed; he obviously wasn't going to get any answers to his questions right now, "May 2nd, 1868, somewhere east of St. Joseph's Missouri. Which means cowboy clothes, pardner," he grinned at his own joke." Wyatt didn't respond, instead moving toward the 1860s rack, beginning to look through the options.

"Actually," Rufus continued, "I'm going to have to thank Emma for this one….not that '68 is great, but a few years earlier and it would _not_ be a very fun jump for me….know what I'm saying?"

They were interrupted by the re-emergence of Jiya and Lucy—who had apparently changed into modern sweats, for the purpose of picking out her 1868 gear.

As Wyatt and Lucy moved back toward the change rooms, their outfits selected and hanging over their arms, Jiya put her hand on Rufus' arm, holding him back.

"Did you learn anything?"

"No, Wyatt's not talking, you?"

"No—it was strange, Lucy just ran in the cubicle and changed out of her dress…..but she refused to talk about where they were or what they were doing….just did some grousing about Emma making you guys chase her this close to Christmas."

"Well then….we have a Christmas mystery on our hands."

"Not that much of a mystery," she said, "They were obviously out somewhere…. Why would they hide it from us?"

"I don't know, why do those two do anything they do?" He smiled, "But if you'll excuse me, I gotta mosey on over to the change room…."

She bounced onto her toes and kissed him on the cheek, "I'll see you at the Lifeboat."

* * *

Agent Christopher was leaning over a computer screen as the trio entered the Lifeboat docking bay. She raised her head, taking in her team. A slight smile played at her lips, "Is it Christmas, or Halloween?"

"Hey," Rufus pulled off his hat, holding it in front of his chest, "We make this stuff look _good_ , at least, I do."

She nodded then, chuckling slightly.

Lucy moved forward to peer at the screen, standing as close to Agent Christopher as the voluminous green skirt she had selected from the wardrobe dock would allow. "Do we have any idea what Emma's targeting on this jump?"

Christopher shook her head, we've been running all of our confirmed Rittenhouse genealogies through Mason's computers-we haven't found a connection to any family near that area in that year yet.

Wyatt stepped forward, "How long until the Lifeboat's charged."

"We're pretty much ready to go," Jiya said, running a pre-launch diagnostic.

"Alright," Christopher moved to the table behind the computer monitors, "Here's your ID and time-appropriate money…." She handed the materials to Lucy. "Oh, and a surprise." See pulled three small items out of an envelope. "We've had our technicians working on re-creating era-specific images of Emma. Here are three tintypes of her—to help with your search."

"Wow," said Lucy, peering at the image in her hand, "They look original."

"Yes, it's good work," said Christopher, "Which it should be, given the price tag, but I just put it on Mason's tab. Consider them an early Christmas gift."

Jiya's voice called out from behind them, "Okay, all systems are ready."

Wyatt nodded. "Well….if we have no idea what her plan is, then we better get a move on."

Rufus watched as Wyatt helped Lucy into the Lifeboat, and then took his own seat, trying to avoid her skirt.

"Those skirts have a mind of their own, don't they," Wyatt said with a chuckle, casually reaching over to help her with her restraints, as he always did.

Rufus pondered that interaction. _They seemed fine….normal…._ He watched for another moment as they seemed to have a full conversation just with their eyes….like they always did. He turned away quickly, before Wyatt had the chance to accuse him of staring. Well, no matter what had happened between them tonight, it seemed that all was right in their world after all….however the heck they're defining their world these days.

"Okay, let's do this," and he put the Lifeboat into motion.

* * *

There was only a small town, just a crossroads really, in the area pinpointed by the computers as Emma's most recent destination. Wyatt kicked at the ground in the ravine where they had landed, contemplating what Emma's next move might be.

"I hope this mission is shorter than the last few," said Lucy.

The team had found the switch from chasing Flynn to Emma difficult. Flynn's scorched earth approach had been dangerous, but generally easy to discern, meaning missions were focused and generally quick. With Emma, her objectives were more about fine-tuning history, meaning her plans were harder to identify, and meaning that missions could be much longer.

"Yeah, I'm not exactly prepared for another two week adventure in time," commented Wyatt, pulling his Stetson down against his ears as they walked toward town.

"She can't stay that long….I mean, it's Christmas," Rufus began, pushing his hands into his pockets. "Well, not here it's not-it's like May….but you know what I mean. I'm sure Emma wants to be back in the present by Christmas day, _even she_ must have plans…." He trailed off, as Wyatt shot him a warning glance.

Message presumably received, Rufus took a breath, and tried to repair his last statement, "Speaking of which, I know you two said you weren't coming to my Mom's on the 25th, but I really think you should reconsider, it is not an imposition at all…."

Wyatt cut him off, "Let's focus on the mission, for now." He surveyed the small collection of wooden buildings. "Do you have those photos Luce?"

"Yeah," she pulled them out of her small bag, handing them out.

"Then where do we start?" asked Wyatt.

"Well, let's start with public spaces. Wyatt, you check the hotel, Rufus and I will check the businesses along this street. We meet back here in fifteen minutes".

It turned out they didn't need that much time. Two minutes after entering the hotel, Wyatt came running out the side door toward the street, calling to his team mates who he saw standing in front of the Shepherd General Store.

"We got her."

"Where is she?" asked Rufus, once Wyatt was close enough he didn't have to shout.

"You're not going to be happy," he began, "But the man at the hotel says he sold her a ticket on the stage to St. Joseph….the one that left thirty minutes ago."

"Oh no," Lucy grabbed a paper out of Wyatt's hand, the stage schedule. This was a fairly new habit of Emma's, taking the Mothership to one location and then taking another form of transport to a different location…..but it was a habit that was making trailing her very difficult.

"Another wild Emma chase," muttered Rufus.

"Maybe not," said Wyatt, pointing to the times on the schedule. There's an extra stage to St. Joseph today—leaves in twenty minutes. She won't be that far ahead of us, hopefully we can catch up before she goes to her next location. I already grabbed our tickets."

"We're riding on a stage coach?" A huge grin spread across Rufus' face, "That's awesome."

Wyatt watched as Lucy smiled at Rufus gently, "We'll see if you feel the same after the trip….you know those things don't have modern shock absorption, right?"

* * *

Some time later, the trio arrived at the comparatively bustling St. Joseph. The team climbed out of the Leading Star stage coach, Rufus having to climb down from the hard seat he had been _ushered_ to on the roof. His back hurt, his backside was sore….and he knew that Lucy was right. _Why was Lucy Preston always right?_

"Man, that was worse than time phase re-entry in the Lifeboat," he said, following his team toward the stage ticket booth.

Wyatt was already quickly approaching the ticket vendor. "Hello," he said, holding out Emma's tintype. "We're looking for my cousin, should have arrived here about an hour earlier on the stage?"

The man glanced at the tintype over half-lens glasses. "Sorry, don't remember her."

"Can you take a closer look?"

"No," and he turned his attention to another man in line.

"Okay," said Lucy, "Someone's going to remember her, a single woman, travelling alone on the stage?"

"Yeah….better split up again. We take the four main streets, then meet back here—on that bench, in an hour."

Fifty minutes later, Rufus was no further ahead than he had been when he started. It had been a series of frustrating conversations with shop owners and clerks who had ranged from disinterest to outright hostility. He moved back toward the corner where they had first exited the stage, smiling as he saw Wyatt sitting on the roughly-hewn bench, fiddling with the brim of his hat.

"Any luck?" he sat beside his friend.

"Nothing," Wyatt said, putting the Stetson back on his head, and leaning back against the porch post behind him.

"Me neither," Rufus answered.

"Here's hoping Lucy's having more luck."

Rufus didn't miss the wistful look that crossed his friend's face as he mentioned her name.

"Okay," he nodded slightly, turning to face Wyatt, "Well, while we're waiting….spill it."

"What?"

"You know what. Tell me what was going on with you and Lucy, before the jump."

"Nothing," Wyatt said, so quietly Rufus almost didn't hear him.

"Wanna try again? You know I'm just going to keep asking….I'm very persistent…..s'why I'm a good coder."

Wyatt shot him a glare, and remained silent for a few seconds. Just as Rufus was thinking he was going to stonewall him until Lucy returned, he started to speak again.

"We were on a….date."

"What?" Rufus swung around to face him, "You mean a real, honest-to-goodness _date_? You and Lucy….on a date."

"Yeah, that's what I said. Was our first date."

"That's awesome buddy…..I am so happy for…."

"Not awesome."

"What do you mean?"

Wyatt sighed, staring pointedly at his boots. "It was a friggin' mess….a disaster."

"Couldn't have been that bad."

He chuckled darkly, "Dude, you weren't there….it was that bad."

"Well—what happened?"

Wyatt shrugged. "Ever since she moved out of my place, into her new apartment….I'd just been thinking about….stuff."

"Uh huh, stuff is good," he said, encouraging him to continue.

"And with Christmas coming, I knew she was feeling badly, without having her sister, or even her mother. I thought about maybe we could spend it together….but figured I needed to buck up and actually make my intentions _known_ first, you know? So I asked her out, asked her to come with me to this fancy restaurant downtown….she'd been talking about it for weeks, how she'd read about this one particular dish she wanted to try…."

"So she said yes?"

"Yeah….she did," he smiled softly, and then his face fell again. "But, right from the start, it was….not good. It was super-awkward, like we couldn't' find anything to talk about….at least I couldn't….and I just kept staring at her like an idiot. You should've seen the dress she had on….it was this amazing pale blued thing….she looked amazing….I mean she _always_ does, but…" he trailed off, staring at his boots.

"I saw part of the dress….under your coat."

"Yeah, well, the coat was to hide the blood stain."

"What?"

"I'll get to it. So we get to this stupid restaurant, it's like the most pretentious place you've ever seen. They claim to not have my reservation, which was ridiculous, because I know I made it….and eventually I'm actually having to bribe the maître d', seriously—like something out of a movie. And then he finally seats us. So, great, we start the date with me committing a felony…..and you _know_ she shot me a look—"

"Maybe it was a thankful look?"

"Pretty sure that's not the word for it. Anyway, we get settled at our table and she disappears to the ladies room and the waiter comes to tell me the specials, and mentions that they're out of a couple of items…."

"Oh no—"

"Oh yes, except, at the time, I didn't even notice because I'm all nervous, and don't remember the name of the stupid dish in the first place…. So eventually, she's back at the table and the waiter takes our order….and he has to tell her that they were out of her dish….and he seemed to take great joy out of telling her that he had already told me—so now I look like the jerk who didn't care enough to let her know about it."

"Crap, man."

"Uh-huh. So, I mean, you know her, she just smiles and orders something else, and pretends it's no big deal...and then while we wait for our food, we return to the previous awkward silence. And then, after the food arrives? Well things just got worse. As I'm asking her about her food, which she says is good, even though I'm pretty sure that's not true, because mine tastes like cardboard, but I lean over to get closer to hear her, and I knock my glass of red wine right over…..like _dump_ it, over everything….and this is why I should have ordered a beer, but I didn't because we're in this stupid fancy restaurant, so then there's this purple grape juice flying over everything—the food, the linens, her dress, her hair…."

"I didn't notice the hair!"

"Is that supposed to make me feel better? And then as I'm jumping up, trying to, I don't know, catch the glass or something, she jumps up and grabs this napkin and starts trying to clean it, and we're moving in opposite directions….and she elbows me in the nose….I mean hard….like I was bleeding man."

"The blood stain on the dress?"

He nodded, silently. "That's when I gave her my jacket. Then….oh, you're going to love _this_ bit, I come back from cleaning up in the men's room….and guess who's sitting there, in my seat? Frickin' Dr. Noah, that's who. He's chatting her up like it's the most normal thing in the world, tellin' her how nice she looks, askin' what she's doing for Christmas…."

"Noah! But isn't Lucy pretty sure he's Rittenhouse?"

"Yeah, she's pretty sure….I say there's no question at all in the matter, of course he's Rittenhouse."

"So you got jealous?"

"Jealous? No….I mean, I suspect she thinks the same, so I might as well have been….but it really wasn't like that. I could see it in her eyes from clear across the room—she was just trying to get him away from her the whole time, every time he put his hand on her arm she was pushing her chair backward…. She was just trying to be a civilized human being, and not cause a scene in public…. So, I'm not jealous, just….mad—mad that he can't leave her alone, mad that Rittenhouse can't just leave her alone. So then I get to the table, and when he saw me he goes all dark, like 'Oh—so this is how it's going to be?'…. And now she's really trying to get rid of him, and he's not paying any attention…. So then I have to _make_ him pay attention….meaning I had to go and get decidedly uncivilized on him…. I pretty much just snap, which I'm sure annoyed Lucy to no end, because now we really _are_ making a scene…."

"By the time Noah storms out, Luce just wants out of there, so I go to pay….and the stupid machine rejects my credit card. Before I get the chance to pull out my bank card, there goes Lucy, jumping in and paying for everything, the meals that we only half-ate!"

Rufus took a breath, about to speak.

But Wyatt ploughed on, "And yes, before you get started, I know that it's 2017 and that shouldn't bother me, but it _does_ , because I asked her out….and it took me like, _months_ to even get to that point." He scrubbed his hand across his face. "So, then I suggest walking along the wharf—because I'm an insensitive ass who doesn't think about the fact that an insane dress like the one she's wearing isn't going to come accessorized with flats. She's wearing these strappy heels that look incredible but..." he trailed off, looking suddenly self-conscious, "But am I even thinking about that? No, it didn`t even enter my mind. So she gave it a go, you know her, she's a trooper, she didn't say a word. But then I notice her walking slower and slower, and, by the time I notice she's in pain, and realize why….we're half way down the quay, with nowhere else to go….so we end up sitting on this bench like something out of Forest Gump…."

"Kind of like now?"

Wyatt lifted his gaze from his boots, glancing at Rufus sitting on the other side of the bench, who had plastered a grin from ear to ear. Wyatt shook his head, and returned his gaze to his boots. "The crazy thing was that it was getting better, on the walk, on that bench…."

"Better?"

"Yeah," he played with the brim of his hat, "I think we were both starting to relax finally. We were talking, and I actually had her laughing, after a few minutes talking on that bench…."

"And then?"

"And then our phones start chiming like an Austrian carillon at Christmas-it's Christopher calling us in….and you know the rest."

"What, so no kiss?"

Wyatt rolled his eyes, "You can't be serious….no, there was no kiss." Then he sighed, "It was a mess, Rufus—everything I was afraid it was going to be….I mean, she's never going to want to go out with me again…. And, instead of making things easier for her, I've probably made this Christmas ten times harder."

Rufus shrugged, "I don't know about that man, I mean you two seem pretty comfortable together now….I wouldn't rule out another date, or a merry Christmas."

Wyatt shook his head, "Ah….that's just work. It's, like, our comfort zone. But dating? I don't know….I don't even know if it's possible for us…."

"You don't know that…."

"I'm pretty sure….I bleed all over her dress, all over her—all over Lucy, who faints at the sight of blood—"

"I don't know about that whole fainting thing, man….I'm starting to think it was just to get out of operating on your sorry ass. I mean, we've seen her around lots of blood since then, and never a faint, not one…." He trailed off, as Wyatt raised his eyebrow at him, "Just sayin'…."

"I _bled_ on her, on a date. And that was arguably not the worst part of the evening….I just don't think the dating thing is going to work for us."

"So don't date."

"You gotta be kidding me," he said, whipping his head up to glare at Rufus. "Who is it that's been driving me crazy for three months about when I was just going to ask her out already!?"

Rufus held up his hands, "Whoa, pull back soldier-boy. And if you have any remaining questions about your true feelings on the subject, maybe take a look at that reaction in your spare time." He put his hands down, and shook his head, "But no, what I meant was: _Do_ be in a relationship….just don't do the "dating" crap. Think about it, the first day you met you defused a bomb while she held a knife to a Nazi's neck, ordering the Hindenburg to land. The second day you knew each other you stopped the attempted assassinations of Seward and Grant. I just think that maybe you're already past the whole dinner and a movie thing."

Wyatt exhaled. "Sorry, man. You're probably right….but, that whole night was such a mess! She's going to see the truth—that she's totally out of my league."

Rufus rolled his eyes. "Good grief. Do you really think Lucy would have even considered the date if she thought that? She wants to be with you….that part is painfully obvious….apparently to everyone except you. And, by the way, one lousy date does not make for a failed relationship….it just makes for good Best Man speech fodder—so thanks for that!"

We looked at him curiously at that, and Rufus pushed on, not wanting to give time for his previous comment to actually sink in. "I'm sure she's already forgotten the whole thing….besides, it's Christmas….and I know another famous couple that had a totally awkward first date."

"Who….what are you talking about? What Christmas couple?"

"No….not a Christmas couple…." he sighed. "I just meant, it's Christmas, be positive. And, me and Jiya; the couple I was talking about was me and Jiya!"

Rufus was saved any further explanation by the sudden appearance of Lucy—coming down a side street to the left, green skirts rustling and shifting as she trotted toward them.

Wyatt jumped to his feet, "Any sign of her?"

She stopped as she drew close to them, adjusting her hat that had slid back while she ran. "Someone at the restaurant by the hotel said they travelled here on the stage with her, and that she immediately went to the livery, renting a wagon and horses. I checked at the livery, and they remembered her too—said she seemed to be prepping for a long journey."

"Crap," moaned Rufus.

"Exactly," sighed Wyatt. "And, not that I think you would actually bury the lead on this, but no one you talked to had any idea where she was going with the wagon?"

She shook her head, "No, although the hand at the livery stable told him she would return the wagon three days from now."

Wyatt nodded his head, "That lines up with what the stage hand said back when I first got the stage schedule—that she had purchased a round trip stage ticket, and was expected to return in four days."

Lucy fell limply onto the bench, between Rufus and Wyatt. "So what now?"

Wyatt shrugged. "I guess we pull out the map…..figure out all the possible places she could have gone in a day-and-a-half, try and track her down…."

Lucy put her hand on his arm, "No."

"No what?"

"No….we're not going to split up and run all over the State, looking for Emma."

Wyatt jumped to his feet, pacing in front of the bench. "Well, we have to do _something_ , we can't just sit here."

Rufus cleared his throat, "I agree with Lucy…..we go back. We know she has to return to the Mothership in less than four days, we try to nab her then."

Wyatt yanked his hat from his head, "That's three….or more…days from now! We're just supposed to hang around waiting? Surely we can do better than that?"

Lucy stood beside him, placing a hand on his arm to calm him. "I don't know that we can….not this time, anyway."

Rufus stood too, "Well, there's certainly no point in staying here. We might as well go back to the Lifeboat….we've got Connor's search data on known Rittenhouse families of this time, we can go back to the data at least, see if we missed anything?"

Wyatt shook his head, "I hate all this waiting around….."

"Is there any way we can track the Mothership?" asked Lucy.

"No," Rufus shoved his hat back on his head, "It has that cloaking system, remember? We could walk within a foot of it, and not even know it was there."

"So we wait until Emma gets off that return stage," said Lucy.

"Yeah, 'cause that worked so well before," said Wyatt. "You remember what happened when we waited for her at that train station in 1920s New York, right? Her goons almost took us out."

"Do you have any better ideas?"

Wyatt shook his head.

"Didn't think so," she said, with a small smile.

"Okay," began Rufus, "So we go back to the Lifeboat, try and go through the data, see if we can't figure it out from there….wait for Emma to return."

"Right," said Lucy. "Wyatt?"

Wyatt threw his head back, with a small audible sigh. "Fine. Let's see if there's an afternoon stage back to wherever it was that we came from."

It turned out they were lucky, there was a return stage, late that night, and Rufus was reminded all over again about how much the stage journey had sucked the first time.


	2. Chapter 2

So at the crack of dawn the next morning, the trio found themselves back at the same crossroads town where they had started the day before. Lucy turned a circle in the dust of the main street, surveying the settlement again.

"Didn't we just leave this party?" quipped Rufus.

"Very funny," said Lucy.

"What's wrong Lucy?" asked Rufus, "Stage coach travel not agreeing with you?"

"Even funnier," said Lucy.

She paused, holding her middle as she took a breath, "I think I'm wishing that I would have allowed you guys to bring Dramamine on the Lifeboat, months ago….could have come in handy."

Wyatt toward them, from where he had been unsuccessful in another attempt to find someone who remembered anything about Emma. "Okay guys," began Wyatt, "I know the day is just starting here, but I, for one, could do with some rest….maybe get a chance to pull these blasted boots off."

"I'll grab us a room at the hotel," said Rufus, "You're in charge of finding breakfast."

A few minutes later, and Wyatt and Lucy were approaching the Tannenbaum Hotel, a cloth satchel of cheese and bread in their hands, thanks to Connor Mason's 'money from all ages' collection. They were surprised, to see Rufus striding toward them.

"So….apparently there's no room at the inn."

"You're kidding," said Lucy.

"Nope. And it's not just because I'm….well, _you_ know. A white couple came in right after me, and the guy at the desk said the same thing to them—absolutely booked for the night."

"So….now what?" asked Lucy.

"Guess we could set up a camp," said Wyatt, "Back by the Lifeboat?"

"Is that a good idea? If we have a campfire….will someone be drawn toward us and see the ship?"

"You're forgetting about the new stealth patch," smiled Rufus.

"You really think that's going to work?" asked Wyatt, "Has anyone even tested it yet?"

"Nope," smiled Rufus, "We get to be the Guinea Pigs."

"Fantastic," said Lucy, straightening her skirts again.

"That's fine," began Wyatt. "We'll find the livery—I think it was beside the saddlery shop. We'll rent horses and a wagon, and then purchase some supplies to build a shelter for the next two nights."

"Don't forget extra blankets," Lucy said, it's not going to stay this warm tonight, it's only early May here."

In quick order, the team had thrown together the necessities to construct a small camp in the river ravine where they had set down with the Lifeboat. The wagon meant they could travel more quickly, and they were back in the vicinity of the Lifeboat by mid-morning. Rufus climbed inside the Lifeboat, while Lucy and Wyatt unloaded the wagon.

"So, you're going to have to explain it to me again," called Wyatt, lifting a large tarp-like cloth out of the wagon, "Why didn't you just put the Lifeboat's new cloaking thing on when we parked?"

Rufus stuck his head out the hatch, "Because, it's not entirely stable…."

"Awesome," said Wyatt.

"….so we couldn't just run the amplifier and battery while we were away from the ship."

"Of course not," smiled Lucy.

"Doesn't that make this cloaker thing only slightly better than completely useless?" Asked Wyatt, who stopped his next comment after a warning glare from Lucy.

"I'm actually pretty excited to try this," continued Rufus, ducking back inside the machine. "Did I tell you that Jiya and I came up with the formula to stabilize the horizontal shake on this thing?"

"Yeah," said Lucy…."A couple times….anyway."

Wyatt smiled at that, and she returned his smile with a grin of her own. She knew she was being generous with her under-estimate.

Rufus popped out of the Lifeboat again, this time pulling himself all the way out of the body of the machine, and landing on the group with a small thud. "Okay, are we ready? Let's give it a go."

Rufus pressed some buttons on a device that looked like a television remote control, and there was a small humming sound, what Lucy presumed to be the battery and accompanying mechanism roaring into gear.

"Here goes nothing," said Rufus, hitting another small button on a box in his hand. The humming sound grew louder, and then suddenly stopped, as a wavy haze enveloped the Lifeboat. As the haze cleared, the team saw a very large, very unusual looking, rock.

"That's….not what I expected," said Wyatt, walking slowly around the strange rock.

"Shouldn't the Lifeboat just have….disappeared, or something?" asked Lucy.

"No," explained Rufus, proudly surveying his work. "It's more of a comoflodge program, than a cloaking one. The Lifeboat just wasn't the right shape for that….but this….this should do nicely."

"It looks like a _really_ strange rock," began Lucy….

"Like something from the set of an old Star Trek episode," agreed Wyatt.

"Hey—it's better than it looking like a Time Machine, right?"

"Guess so," agreed Wyatt, who then turned to survey their immediate area. "Lucy, why don't you get started going through the data points on the Lifeboat computer again? Rufus and me'll start setting up the camp."

"Okay," she agreed, moving toward what she presumed was still the door to the thing. "Oh—does anyone know how many hours it's been, since we landed here before?"

"How many hours?" asked Rufus.

"Just under thirty-six," said Wyatt. "Why?"

She smiled sadly. "No real reason….it's just that….well, it's the morning of Christmas Eve, back home."

An hour later, Rufus and Wyatt had fashioned a make-shift camp around the front of the very-unusual rock that looked nothing like a time machine. Lucy was pulling herself out the porthole of said rock, taking a break from her research, as the boys were tending to the two horses, a few feet away.

"You guys are getting pretty good with that," she smiled, pulling her skirts clear of the Lifeboat.

"With what, the horses?" Wyatt asked.

"Yeah," she surveyed the scene around her, "And with setting up camp too!"

"Find any usable data in the genealogical system onboard?" asked Rufus, as he returned to the campfire at the centre of the camp.

She shook her head. "No, nothing."

She settled on a small log they had pulled to the edge of the campfire, patting the spot beside her in an invitation for Wyatt to sit. He quickly took her up on her offer, settling himself beside her.

"So," he began, "Remind me how long until Emma returns to this place?"

"Just under three days," she sighed.

"Three days," he said, his tone matter-of-fact, but Lucy didn't miss the grimace on his face.

"Crap," said Rufus, coming to sit across from the pair, on the other side of the fire, "Means we miss Christmas."

Wyatt pulled off his boots, Lucy stared at him questioningly. He smiled at her, "They hurt like crazy. But….I am sorry guys, about Christmas."

"Yeah, well," Rufus threw a twig into the low-burning fire, "all part of the job, I guess."

"What would you normally do at Christmas time, Rufus—with your family?" asked Lucy.

He stretched back, resting his hands behind him on the ground. "Nothing that special," he shrugged. Christmas Eve would usually just be me and Mom and Kevin. We'd have some kind of special meal—nothing particularly festive, but something we almost never do, you know? Like a fondue, or we'd make Pho from scratch…..something like that. Mom would have the Christmas tunes blaring, singing along as she finished up her baking for the next day." He shifted again, moving closer to the fire. "I guess she'd be starting her baking now—Christmas Eve day. Well, later that night we'd change into our pajamas, and open one gift each….we'd done that since Kevin and me were little kids….then Mom would read us 'Twas the Night Before Christmas….every year, no matter how old I was."

Lucy smiled, "Sounds nice."

Rufus smiled back, "Yeah…..even though it always makes me feel like a little kid…."

"Nothing wrong with that, every now and then," said Wyatt.

"Yeah, well, anyway, the whole family would show up Christmas day….cousins, aunts, uncles, the whole thing….and chaos would generally ensue….but the good kind of chaos, not the hurtling through time and seeing what's changed when you get back kind of chaos." He smiled across at Lucy, "What about you?"

She chewed her lower lip for a moment, trying to decide how best to respond. "Well….you have to remember, last Christmas my Mom was sick….and different….different than the Mom I have now. But, even when she was sick, we tried to keep most of the traditions going….Amy was always such a great hostess….and I would manage the details. We kind of did things the opposite of your family—Christmas Eve was when the neighbours and extended family would come over. Lots of food, laughter…..I wonder if Carol is hosting something similar this year? I wonder what she's telling the neighbours about where I am? But anyway, Christmas morning…..well that was just for family, me and Amy, Mom and Dad….unloading the tree, playing any new games received together….my parents always made sure we got some kind of game to play as a family that morning….then we'd have a huge dinner…..my father always did the turkey, I'd attempt to bake cookies or something…..not exactly my strong suit."

She flashed a look of mock-annoyance at Wyatt, as he chuckled softly.

"What?" he asked, "You know that I had first-hand experience with your attempt at chocolate-chip cookies….that first weekend you were staying at my place."

"So I forgot the butter…."

Rufus was laughing now, "I don't know anything about baking either….but I am pretty sure butter is important."

"Yes, it is….very important," said Wyatt, nodding his head.

She crossed her arms, fixing him with a stare. "You say butter is all so important, yet you didn't say a word, when you were eating them."

"Nope….we'd just gotten back from California in the '60s, and you were in a mood. Besides, I knew you were just trying to do something nice for me."

"So how many of those cookies did you have to eat?" asked Rufus.

"Two, before she tried one herself, and realized there was a serious issue."

Lucy lost all control at that point, doubling-over in laughter at the memory of the situation, and secretly giving thanks for having friends like Rufus and Wyatt.

Once the laughter had subsided, Wyatt's face became serious, as he pulled at his hat, "I'm sorry you guys have to miss out on all that….because of this….job."

Lucy shrugged, "I wouldn't have attended anything my Mother planned, this year."

"Yeah, but that's still because of this job."

Rufus nodded, "Sometimes I really hate this….whole thing. You know?"

"I know what you mean," Lucy said. She was surprised as unshed tears suddenly sprang to her tears. She swiped at them, pretending to straighten her hair, but she knew her friends had noticed. If she needed proof, it was when Wyatt reached his arm out around her shoulders, pulling her against his side.

"So," he began, "I'm thinking….it's still a couple days before Emma is due….why don't we take today, and have our own Christmas celebration."

Rufus raised an eyebrow, "Here? It's May, dude."

"So? You're the one that's all about Christmas spirit, aren't you? Pretty sure that's not restricted to one or two days of the year….or so the Christmas movies tell us."

Lucy smiled, "You watch Christmas movies, Wyatt? What else do you do for the holiday?"

He shrugged, "Work….whenever possible."

She pulled away slightly, about to apologize for asking the question.

He pulled her back toward him, "But if I wasn't working….then I'd usually buy a really nice Scotch….and watch whatever Christmas joy they were pedaling on the TV….hence the encyclopedic knowledge of Christmas movies."

Rufus grinned, "See, I knew you were a closet Elf."

Wyatt gave a slight grimace. "Honestly….the vast majority of them are actually really bad….people just don't notice when they're a part of a family tradition."

The group was silent for a moment, until Rufus climbed to his feet, "So—all the more reason for us to celebrate _hard_ tonight. What's the plan? Do we try and hit the restaurant in the hotel for a good meal?"

"I don't know," began Lucy, "Keeping up the act like that, having a meal with the locals? I'd rather not have to work that hard."

Wyatt straightened up, pulling his boots back on, "So we have a nice dinner right here, at camp. We'll cook some kind of bird….maybe we won't find a turkey, but there's gotta be some kind of poultry in town. See what we can find for veggies, dessert….it could be nice."

Rufus gave a disbelieving snort, "Presuming of course that one of us can prepare a bird over an open fire in a way that won't give us all salmonella. And we've already heard that Lucy leaves butter out of cookies….and I sure the heck can't do it—I still live with my mother, remember?"

"S'Alright," said Wyatt, "I've got us covered."

"He really is a pretty good cook," agreed Lucy.

"More importantly, thanks to a couple of less than four-star duty tour destinations….I also have some background in cooking over an open flame."

"Perfect," Rufus rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "Now we just have to shop for the gifts!"

"Gifts?" asked Lucy.

"Of course," said Rufus, "Remember….in the Carlin family everybody opens a gift on Christmas Eve….and you guys are officially now a part of the Carlin family. But….maybe it should be two gifts tonight, we can all buy something for each other…."

"No, Rufus," she responded, feeling badly at crushing his sudden happiness. "I mean, we _can't_. Buying things….we're adding money into the economy that shouldn't be there….and Mason's counterfeit money, at that."

Wyatt shrugged, "I don't think Rufus is thinking anything extravagant, Luce….something small won't affect the economy….no more than our dinner will."

She sighed, "Well, there's a bigger problem. We wouldn't be able to take any of the gifts _back_ with us."

"Why not?" asked Rufus.

"You know we can't go bringing things from this time back to our time….same as we don't bring things from our time to this time….it's just….dangerous."

Wyatt smiled, "You don't mind the modern gun being brought back in time."

"No, but…."

"And you didn't say a word, when I brought the Bowie knife back to the present with me."

"That's because you were holding a giant _Bowie knife_ , at the time, what was I supposed to say?" she replied….but she was already starting to relent her initial position, seeing the growing happiness in her friends' eyes.

Rufus broke in, "So we just get little….trinkets….everyday items….nothing unique, nothing that this time will miss….it's mostly just the fun of it anyway, right?"

Lucy knew she'd been beat….and secretly, she really wanted to exchange gifts too. "Well….okay….but if we're talking about small trinkets….there should be some meaning behind them."

"What do you mean?" asked Wyatt, and she saw a slight look of concern growing in his eyes.

"At Stanford, there was this department head who invited people to his house every Christmas. We had to draw names, Secret Santa style, but you had to buy them something small that represented something you'd learned from that person….or what your relationship with that person meant to you."

"Wow, talk about sucking all the fun out of gift-giving!" quipped Rufus.

"No," she continued, "It was fun. Like, a friend of mine pulled my Mother's name, and said that she'd taught her the value of perseverance….so she bought her one of those impossible to solve wooden puzzles, that was holding a wine bottle. I had an easy one that year, I pulled the name of a professor that had mentored me for a while, and she had introduced me to jazz music, so I bought her this cheesy Christmas broach with a saxophone on it.

"Wait," cut in Wyatt, "Jazz? I didn't know you liked jazz….why don't I know that?"

She shrugged, "I like lots of music."

"Yeah, but jazz seems….unusual….given your other musical tastes."

"What other musical tastes?"

"Well….when we were driving together to MI the other day….what exactly was that that you were listening to?"

She shot him a good-natured glare.

He crossed his arms and gave the look right back, "Pretty sure it was John Denver's Christmas album, right?"

"John Denver?" asked Rufus, with a chuckle.

"John Denver and the Muppets Christmas album, actually," she corrected.

"Of course," said Wyatt. "Soooo, john Denver, jazz, the Muppets….that's….that's….um….weird."

"Hey," she swatted his shoulder, "I think the word you're looking for is….eclectic."

He smiled at her then, and the grin turned into a smirk, as he tugged on the brim of his Stetson in that way that secretly drove her mad. "Yes, ma'am."

"So," she said, happy to change the topic, "Are we doing this, or not?"

"Do we have to?" asked Rufus.

Lucy sniffed, "Well, if you want me to let you take your gifts back to the present with you….then we play by my rules."

"Hey now," Rufus sputtered, "That's…..that's not very ….Christmassy!"

Now Wyatt was chuckling at him, "Just agree, my friend, I promise you can't out-stubborn her on this one."

All three were laughing now.

"Fine," said Rufus, holding up his hands in surrender, "We'll play by your rules. We'll all get one gift from each of us…. _meaningful_ gifts."


	3. Chapter 3

The decision made, Wyatt had organized them with an efficiency that made Rufus' head spin. The meal was decided upon, with a shopping list of ingredients to be gathered from town. Rufus had hitched up the wagon in what was a new personal best time for him—who thought he'd ever see the day where he would be able to add both 'driving horses' and 'hotwiring cars' to his resume?—and the time team began their new mission, to celebrate Christmas, in May, in 1868, together.

Once back in town, the trio surveyed the main street.

"So, with these plans for the present-buying shopping spree….you've noticed that there are only two shops in town—a General Store and a saddlery, right?" said Wyatt.

"Actually, there were two general stores in town," Rufus said with a grin.

"Two?" Wyatt lifted an eyebrow, "Why would they need two? There's like only a handful of houses…."

Rufus shrugged, "Don't know….one's probably higher end."

"Higher end barrels and pick axes?" asked Wyatt.

"Uh….sure….you know….better wood, and metal, and stuff," came Rufus' stilted reply.

"Uh, sure," said Lucy.

* * *

They decided to split up, hitting different stores to gather their food, as well as do some of their special gift shopping on their own. Once everything on his list had been acquired, Rufus set off to return to the wagon, and was almost ploughed over in the street by a woman carrying a tall stack of packages wrapped in brown paper, and secured with twine. A woman, he realized who looked an awful lot like Lucy. A woman, he realized, as she tripped, and packages flew to the ground, revealing her face at last, _was_ Lucy.

"Whoa there!" He chuckled, grabbing her arm to stabilize her as she tipped precariously side-ways.

"Oh my gosh….." she finally regained her footing, and set the remaining packages on the ground.

"Well, hope there was nothing breakable in there."

She smiled then; fixing her hat that had become out of kilter again, and then began to gather the packages into two smaller piles. "No, we're all good with regard to that," she said.

Rufus scooped up the larger of the two piles of packages. "Maybe we need to re-think this whole idea that we're not affecting their economy much….it looks like you bought up half the store."

"No, it's not that much, really," she said, gathering her stack of packages in her arms, just all that wrapping, and some of the stuff I had to buy in larger quantities…." She trailed off as she reached the wagon, and Rufus helped her stack the packages under the seat and against the sideboard in the box.

"Glad I found you so easily though—I was worried you might be on the other side of town with Wyatt."

"Found me, ran over me….potato, pot-ah-to. You said Wyatt's on the other side of town?"

"Well, that's the direction he was heading when I saw him last, toward that other Lambe General Store, beside the church."

"Hm, well, maybe we just wait here for him, then. This is where we said we would meet….and maybe he needs some….private shopping time." He raised his shoulders suggestively, clapping his hands.

"Private shopping time," she laughed pulling her hat from her head and scooping her hair into a loose bun, in order to set the hat back in place. "You make it sound…."

"What?"

"Oh, I don't know. Let's just say you make it sound more interesting than it is! You really are like a little kid at Christmas….literally."

He grinned at her. "You are right." He watched her for a moment, her gaze pointing back down the main street, toward the church spire. They might be here for a few minutes, he might as well do something useful with his time. "So….you and Wyatt seemed pretty cozy earlier today."

"What?"

"You and Wyatt, today, at the camp, sittin' on that log all snug together."

She waved hand at him, "Sometimes we sit close together, so what?"

He laughed out loud at that. "Lucy—I'm just wondering what's up with that. I mean," he motioned between them, "We're good friends, and you don't often cuddle up beside me."

She rolled her eyes at him.

"And, while we're at it, what's with this whole 'Luce' thing, anyway? Like I said before, we're good friends," he winked at her, "And I don't go around callin' you 'Luce'."

She sighed, "It's….different, with Wyatt and me….you know that."

"Let's just pretend I don't….explain it to me."

She sighed again, "We were living together for over a month….there's a certain bit of….familiarity….."

"Hmmmm, so that's what you call it."

He watched as she brushed an imaginary hair out of her eyes, probably hoping to hide the blush that was quickly colouring her cheeks.

"I guess I miss him," she whispered, "And we call it….possibility."

And that was so much more information than she'd ever shared with him before on that subject, that Rufus didn't really know where to start.

"You miss him? Since you moved out, you mean? I can understand that….although it seems to me whenever I try to text either of you on our off hours….you is still always together. And given that you work together too….hard to imagine you're apart long enough to _miss_ him. Nope, seems to me, the better explanation for cuddle-fest back at camp was that you're crazy about him. But you know what? Let's put that to the side, for now. Tell me more about this _possibility_."

She jerked her head toward him. "I think you already know."

He smiled wide, "I do….but tell me anyway."

"Oh….fine. It's all a big mess anyway….now."

"Why?"

She paused for a minute, almost seeming to be trying to summon her courage, then said, "Wyatt asked me out….on a real _date_."

"He did?" _No point now in letting her know he'd already heard this story_ , he figured. After all, this could be interesting, "That's great, I'm happy for you two."

"Yeah, well, don't be in too big a hurry to be happy for us….it was….not a good date."

"Not a good date?"

"No. I mean, I was with Wyatt, on a _date_ , so it was amazing….but, at the same time…..Rufus, I really messed things up."

He sighed, sitting back on the wagon bench, momentarily scanning the people walking up and down the street, and wondering what they must think, him, a black man, talking to a white lady with no other escort in sight. He turned his attention back to Lucy. "I'm sure you couldn't have messed it up, Lucy."

"I did. A while back, I was talking about this article I read about a new restaurant, the Heraldique Ange. I made this off-hand comment about wanting to try one of their specialties."

"So he took you there?"

"Yeah."

"That doesn't sound so bad."

"Except, this restaurant Rufus, it's the most pretentious place you've ever seen...a place that pretends to lose your reservation if you're not classy enough for them, a place where they don't even put prices on the menu….so you know it's _crazy_ expensive….and….none of that's _me_ , Rufus….I tried to catch Wyatt's eye, to suggest we get out of there, but then he just tries harder to get us in….and now….Wyatt must think I'm some high-maintenance person…..ugh." she put her face in her hands.

"Lucy," he put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "I'm sure he doesn't think you're high-maintenance….he's seen you traipsing through history with nothing but the clothes on your back….besides, one night at a fancy restaurant doesn't sound very high-maintenance to me."

"No?" She lifted her head to look at him again, "Well, you haven't heard the next bit of the story yet. I was so nervous….and stressing out about what he might be thinking of me, wanting to eat at a restaurant like that….I just kind of lost it, had to run to the washroom to compose myself. I'm pretty sure Wyatt assumed I was trying to escape out the window…. And then, when I got back to the table? Things just got worse! Because it turns out they were out of the dish I wanted to try. And I made this face—I'm sure it looked like I was annoyed—but I wasn't! I was just stressing out because that meant I was going to have to go back to the menu to order something…..and frankly, I didn't know what half the stuff on the menu was….but here's the waiter prattling on about how he told Wyatt about being out of the dish, so _he_ obviously thought I was pissed about it….so what must Wyatt have thought?"

"Did you ask him?"

"No….that would have been…..no. It was all….bad. And Wyatt, he just kept _staring_ at me while we were at that table, like he was thinking he'd just made the worst mistake ever, and didn't know how to talk to me about it."

"Ummmm, I just gotta say, there is another more likely reason why he was staring, you know."

"What, like he couldn't take his eyes off me or something?"

"Well….yeah."

She rolled her eyes, "So your premise is that he suddenly decided I was stare-worthy?"

"If you haven't noticed that man staring at you before, then you haven't been paying attention. Believe me—he stares at you….a lot."

She gazed at him for a moment, as though she wanted to ask a question, but then shifted her gaze back to the bustling street around them.

"So, what happened next?" he asked.

She sighed, "So next we're sitting there, enjoying our meal, and I use that term loosely, 'cause the food didn't even taste that good, and Wyatt leans in to ask me something, and I'm so nervous, and freaking out about wanting the night to be perfect, I get all excited and lean toward him at the same time….and I make him dump his red wine all over everything! It was on him, on the table, in the food…."

"Maybe it made the food taste better."

He smiled to see her grin at that, "Maybe, but I wouldn't know, because I didn't end up eating anything more…."

"Why not?"

"I'll get to that. So anyway, I make him dump that wine all over everything, and I grab a napkin, to try to dab the wine out of his white cuffs, and you _know_ how clumsy and uncoordinated I am…."

"And?"

"And I elbow him in the nose….hard. Rufus—I gave him a nosebleed. On our first date!"

He clapped his hand across his face, to hide the grin that had spread there unbidden—but he wasn't fast enough, she saw it.

"Glad my pain….his pain….could be so—" she swatted his right shoulder, "—Entertaining to you," she swatted his left shoulder.

He held up his hands, "Sorry, sorry. I admit….it's not ideal….but someday, well I think you might find it just a little bit funny."

She shook her head, "Yeah, well there was nothing funny about what happened next. Wyatt goes to clean himself up, and as I'm sitting there with my own glass of wine, trying to figure out how the night went _so_ off the rails…. But, as I'm sitting there, I suddenly hear this voice behind me, calling my name. And the voice is familiar, but I can't quite place it, you know? So I turn around….and it's Noah."

"Fiancé Noah?"

She raised an eyebrow at him, "Well, ex-fiancée Noah. And the jerk just sits himself down, across from me, makes himself comfortable and starts gabbing like it's the most normal thing in the world. And so now I'm getting all paranoid—I mean, if he's Rittenhouse, does this mean they're _following_ me? And he just keeps talking, and I try to end the conversation, but he doesn't take the hint….then Wyatt comes back and confronts him….and they both get all…."

She shook her head, "Well, you can imagine. Noah eventually leaves...and I'm glad he did….but it shouldn't have to _be_ that way. I should have been able to take care of that on my own, I should have been more assertive, gotten rid of him….and I hate that Wyatt had to swoop in and fix that….even though at the same time, I like that he tries to protect me….and then I get annoyed by the fact that I like it…." She trailed off; seeming a little embarrassed that she'd said so much.

Apparently deciding to press on with the story, she took a breath, and continued, "The thing is, Wyatt shouldn't have to worry about Rittenhouse following me around, he shouldn't have to be protecting me twenty-four-seven. And besides which, I'm sure seeing Noah just reminded Wyatt about my family….mess."

"You know he doesn't care about any of that, right? He doesn't care who your parents are….all he worries about is how their actions make you feel….all he cares about it _you_."

She smiled almost sadly, "It's nice to think that way….but if Noah can't leave us alone for one measly date….what kind of a future could we expect?"

"Well, first of all, I like that you're talking about a future….keep talking about that….and second of all….I think you're blowing this out of proportion a bit."

"Out of proportion? Which part, the property damage caused to his white shirt, or the bodily harm caused to his nose?"

Rufus shrugged, unable to find a way to answer _that_ particular question.

"So after the wine, and the blood, and _Noah_ ….I just didn't want to sit in that pretentious restaurant anymore. So I ask to leave….and he of course is all like 'Absolutely', as though all of this is perfectly normal date behavior. So he lets me know what he has in mind next: A walk down the pier. Which….is exactly what I should have expected on a date with Wyatt….if I'd done even a minute of actual _thinking_. When we lived together, we walked all the time—like day long hikes, he loves to walk….and I love walking with him…..but somehow I was an idiot and thought wearing these ridiculous heels was a good idea."

"Why didn't you just say something, ask if you could walk another time?"

She shrugged slightly. "The rest of the evening was just such a mess….I just wanted to see him comfortable, happy….maybe even glad that he'd asked me out. And things actually got better, the more we walked. He wasn't staring at me anymore; I suddenly remembered how to have a conversation….a skill which had abandoned me, earlier in the evening. I actually didn't even have a problem with the walking until suddenly the one strap kind of….stretched or something, and I turn over on my ankle….then I'm hobbling around like an idiot….this high-maintenance idiot…." Rufus—what am I going to do? I really wanted the night to be….perfect….and it was the opposite of that." She sniffled slightly, and he saw wetness in her eyes.

He tilted his head toward her, touching the brim of his hat. "Can I make an observation?"

She nodded.

"That's the second time you've said that….that you wanted it to be perfect. Maybe that's...a lot to expect. Especially when you were probably both so nervous."

"We were both nervous?"

"Of course you were both nervous….but I think you might have made it worse for yourself, by building it up like that, in your head. I mean….what other interaction have you and Wyatt _ever_ had that was perfect? That's not you—that's not life. And now, if you'll permit me, I'm going to get a little syrupy and schmaltzy on you….just 'cause it's Christmas, of course. I've been watching you two for a while now….I mean, it's not like I had much of a choice or anything…." He winked at her. "And what I see is two imperfect people….who are perfect for each other."

A rogue tear broke free and meandered down her face. "You really think so?"

He nodded.

She smiled slightly, "Do you think I've messed it all up though? I mean, insisting on that stupid restaurant….elbowing him in the nose?"

He returned her smile. "Oh….I think Wyatt….and you, are both made of tougher stuff than that. I can't imagine such trivial things getting in your way." He gave her a quick hug, "Of course….it's never a bad idea to actually, you know….talk about these things." He paused, then continued, "Mind you, during the course of talking about these things, I'd prefer it if you didn't….mention anything about this conversation….or about what I said. I love the man and all….but he's still Delta Force….and he scares me."

She nodded, and then pulled his hat down on his forehead. "Thank you. When did you become such a relationship expert?"

He grinned, "Well, unlike you and Wyatt, me and Jiya? Well we're pretty perfect."

She laughed then, her eyes looking brighter than they had throughout the conversation.

He bumped her shoulder with his. "Don't look now," he said, indicating behind her with a nod of his head, "But here comes Mr. Not-Perfect himself….looks like he's done with some of that private Christmas shopping.

* * *

Wyatt leaned back against the wheel of the wagon, a satisfied feeling growing within him, as he watched Lucy and Rufus finish their meal seated around their campfire. Turned out that the food had tasted better than he suspected, and he was quite certain no one would be getting salmonella from the goose.

"You know," said Lucy, "I've never actually eaten goose before, it's pretty good. The lack of dishes and cutlery was a bit of an adventure," she looked up, smiling at him across the fire, "But we made it work."

"Hey," said Rufus, "We had our fingers—and that contraband Swiss Army knife from Wyatt's pocket. What else did we need?"

"Contraband?" Wyatt asked.

"Well, you know….according to Lucy."

She sniffed, "I didn't say contraband, I said anachronistic. And I wasn't annoyed that you suggested we use it to help with the meal….I'm annoyed at just how many other missions you've brought it on…."

"Like I said, it was a recent brainwave….I've only had it with me for two jumps..."

"Just….be careful with it."

Rufus shrugged, "Can't be nearly as dangerous to the timeline as his modern gun…."

Wyatt shot him a look, silently begging him to drop the whole thing.

"….And man, this bread-pudding in a pot is awesome."

Good thing Rufus was becoming adept at reading his glares. "Not a bad Christmas meal at all," Wyatt said, getting off the log to dig through a package in the wagon box.

"Alright," he heard Rufus standing up behind him. "Are we ready to do this thing?"

"Do what?" asked Lucy.

"Presents, of course."

"You really are just a big kid, aren't you?" said Wyatt.

"Yep—and proud of it. Come on, time for a Carlin family Christmas Eve gift exchange."

"Okay," said Lucy, "But first….I think I'm going to take this opportunity to get out of this ridiculous dress."

"Ummmm," began Wyatt, "What other clothing do you have?"

"None," she said, with an almost-wicked grin on her face. "I'm going to take part in the Carlin family Christmas Eve tradition….and just take it all off….well, down to my base petticoat, that is."

"Wait," said Rufus, "I feel the need to specify that the Carlin family Christmas Eve tradition is pajamas….not _underwear_."

She giggled a little, as she began stripping off the layers of fabric. "Don't worry, this underwear is way less revealing than your average pajamas."

Rufus glanced toward Wyatt, a slight almost panic shining in his eyes.

Wyatt shrugged in response. _Her mind was set, what could he do?_

Once Lucy was more….comfortable, the three pulled their packages from the wagon, and arranged themselves along the log on one side of the campfire.

"Okay Rufus, open mine first," said Lucy.

"Awesome," he took the small offered gift, turning it over in his hands. Grinning impishly, he tore off the brown paper to reveal a small box with a picture of a black retriever type dog on top.

"Cool….thanks Lucy. So, what does it mean?"

"Wait a second," Wyatt interrupted, that's not how this works, you can guess what it means, but we don't have to tell you…."

"What?" said Rufus, "But what fun is it, if you don't tell? Nope…..we are telling."

"No," said Wyatt, "Definitely not….nobody said we'd have to _say_ why we bought the gift….that wasn't part of the rules."

"Oh, it's fine. We can give a quick explanation," Lucy put her hand on Wyatt's shoulder, "No big deal, right? Rufus, I got you the snuff box…."

"Just what I always wanted, by the way."

"….Because of the dog on the top. It reminded me of you."

"Ummmm….."

"Not that I think you're a dog…..I just mean….dogs are loyal, and you're like the most loyal kind of person….I guess it reminded me of you because you're always standing by me, have my back, you know? Okay, Wyatt's right….this is hard to actually put into words."

Rufus grinned at her, "Too late, you agreed to it. But, thank you Lucy—I think it's great. And now I'm wishing I'd got you all dog snuff boxes….because all of us, our time team….just crazy loyal, right? Okay, 'nuff of all this mushy stuff, Wyatt, open your gift from me."

He handed Wyatt a long narrow gift wrapped in newsprint.

"Why am I suddenly feeling happy that this town doesn't have a practical joke shop?"

"Just open it."

He ripped open the one end, pulling out a long leather strap with holes and a small ring at one end. He looked at it quizzically for a moment. "Okay….I know it's not a belt….it's part of a harness, right?"

"Close….I did buy it at the saddlery store...but it's not part of a harness, it's actually a secondary cinch….goes toward the back of the saddle, in case the first one comes lose or rips."

"And you know that….how?" asked Lucy.

"What—you haven't been watching me on a horse lately? I'm practically Roy Rodgers."

Wyatt raised an eyebrow at his friend.

"Okay, so it was on display in the shop, I could tell what it was because they had a wooden saddle tree-type horse all tacked up."

Lucy nodded slightly, "And the significance?"

Rufus looked shy for a moment, then took a big breath and began, "It's about confidence….ever since the day we met, Wyatt's always had this crazy amount of confidence in me….and has helped _me_ to be confident in me too, you know? That's why it's the secondary one….'cause it's meant to just give you that added confidence in something you've had all along….you've helped me see that I had more in me than I thought, that I'm braver than I thought, stronger than I thought….

Wyatt ducked his head for a second, feeling suddenly self-conscious, then straightened to look his friend in the eye. It's easy 'cause you're awesome….you shouldn't need me to give you confidence."

"But, paradoxically, now that I know you, and you've shown me what I can be….I don't really need you, but that's why it's a gift that you gave me….if that makes sense?"

Wyatt chuckled, "Not really, but you're welcome….and thank you," he saluted him with the cinch, "For the gift."

"You're welcome." He grabbed his other present, "Okay then, since I'm on a role here, Lucy, you open yours from me next."

She opened the tiny package pulling out a small white handkerchief, with a tiny "LP" embroidered on the corner.

"Rufus…" she began, running her finger over the initials, "Where did you find one with my initials….?"

"Hand stitched this morning," he nodded at her. I was looking at the handkerchiefs, and the store-owners wife pretty much pounced on me, said she wouldn't let me leave the store with it until she embroidered in the initials of the girl it was for." He grinned, "She was _very_ persistent. And, it represents compassion, by the way….because you are just about the most compassionate person I've ever met….compassionate toward your friends….like me and this loser," he jerked his thumb, indicating Wyatt, "and compassionate toward total strangers, throughout history."

"Thank you," she said softly, I love it."

Wyatt caught sight of a tiny tear on her cheek, and rolled his eyes in over-the-top mock annoyance. "Oh good job guys, let's get everyone all emotional on Christmas Eve, over a hundred years from home—good plan. But, I think I might have the answer to that, Rufus my man, this is for you."

Rufus accepted the rectangular box in brown paper. He opened it to reveal a solid wooden box with writing on the outside. "Wait, what….? Oh….is this what it says it is on the box….I mean, I guess it is….I don't know that I want to open it…."

"What? What is it?" Lucy was nearly bouncing in her eagerness.

"Hey wait," Rufus turned the box over again in his hands. "Are you trying to tell me that I'm a pain in the ass?"

Wyatt grinned, "No, my friend, that's just what you call a happy coincidence. When I was going through the store, it was just sitting there, between the soap and the bags of sugar, and it made me laugh. That's why I got it—because you make me laugh….you remind me not to take myself so seriously all the time….and believe me, that makes me a better person, dude."

"Will someone please tell me what it is?" asked Lucy

Rufus held it up to her, reading the inscription grandly, "Tyrrell's Colon Flushing Appliance. It says on the side that it is good for man or beast."

Lucy nearly toppled over, she began laughing so hard. "Oh my gosh….do not open that….I do not want to see what it…."

But of course Rufus had already opened it.

"Ewwww," she continued, "I don't want to see it, but I can't look away."

"How do you think they figure man _or_ beast," asked Wyatt.

That just made Lucy laugh harder, "Stop—I do not want that mental image, oh no…."

"Too late?" asked Rufus.

"Yes."

Now they were all laughing, Rufus wiping a tear from his eye. "Thanks man….this is going to sound really weird, but that means a lot...and I'm glad to help you not take yourself so seriously….I'm glad you can laugh more."

"Me too," said Lucy, and now it's your turn to open my gift.

He removed the paper carefully. "It's a….stone." He turned it over in his hand, "Oh, with a carving….a horse carved into the side."

She nodded, "There was a man selling them from the back of his wagon, said it was from the top of a Cherokee hammer, this man, said he was Cherokee himself, apparently carves the old ones to sell them to the townsfolk, or mostly to people just passing through, who want a reminder of their journeys in the old west."

"So it's like an antique tourist souvenir trinket?" he asked.

She nodded, "Pretty much, yeah." She gave him a shy smile. "Okay, I guess there's just one more gift—"

"Nope," Rufus began, "Hang on there—you didn't tell us what it represents, why it's a meaningful gift."

"Oh, uh…."

"Come on," continued Rufus, "Enquiring minds want to know. After all, this was your idea."

She sighed, "Fine, it's a stone, so it's….it's….ah, about strength, I guess."

"I give you strength?" Wyatt asked.

She nodded silently.

"Thank you," he said. He hadn't missed the fact that Rufus had rolled his eyes. "Okay, one more to open, Lucy, this is for you."

Lucy gingerly took the larger gift from him, unwrapping the brown packing paper to reveal a small oil lantern.

"Wow, it's really nice Wyatt, thank you."

"You're welcome. And I guess you want to know why…." He paused, unable to come up with the right words to explain it. Lucy was staring at him with those huge eyes of hers….and it was not helping.

"Come on," said Rufus, "Out with it."

Still he didn't have the words.

Lucy chimed in, "Is it….supposed to represent the lamp of knowledge?"

He nodded quickly, "Yeah—that's it. Knowledge, for Mrs. Know-it-All herself."

"Hey, that's Mrs. _Bossy_ Know-it-All, to you," she joked.

"Well, yeah….that's….that's why I bought it."

Rufus shook his head, and pushed himself up to stand. "Good grief," he said, almost under his breath.

"What're you doing?"

"Nature calls."

"It's getting pretty dark out there," Wyatt said.

Rufus covered Lucy's ears with his hands and stage-whispered, "Don't tell Lucy, but I'm taking the glow stick from the Lifeboat's emergency kit with me."

She batted away his hands playfully, "Just because it's Christmas….I'm going to let that one go. That and I wouldn't want you being eaten by a bear on your way to the can."

"We can go in pairs," suggested Wyatt, "It's safer."

"Oh I'll be careful….and besides, the other reason I need to go for a walk is that it is painfully obvious that you guys need some time to talk….alone."

"What?" asked Wyatt.

"What are we supposed to talk about?" asked Lucy.

"Ooh, you've got to be kidding me…. Well, for starters, why don't you try telling each other the real meanings behind your gifts….because those were the two sorriest excuses for explanations I've ever heard." With that, he opened the hatch on the Lifeboat-rock, and grabbed the emergency kit as he walked away from the campfire without another word.


	4. Chapter 4

Wyatt raised his eyebrows at Lucy. "Well, I guess we've been told."

Lucy nodded, silently.

"So….according to Rufus, he thinks we should try giving our meaning-behind-the-gift explanations another go."

"Yeah," she said, "I guess he probably was on to something."

"So your gift isn't about strength?"

"Well, it _is_ about strength….but it's more than that, too. I guess….it's more about being a rock. You're my constant….the one I can count on to keep me on course when the rest of my world is going crazy….my touchstone, kind of."

Wyatt turned the stone over in his hand, brushing his thumb across the carving, looking at it with a new perspective, almost a reverence, he realized. Then he turned to face Lucy directly.

"I probably could have done a better job of explaining things too….I mean, the whole lamp of knowledge thing never even entered my mind….but I couldn't find a way to actually _say_ what I wanted to….at least not then."

"What about now? Do you think you could find a way to say it now?"

He gave her a lop-sided smirk. "Yeah. Actually, it's not even that complicated. I mean there's not a whole lot of symbolism to worry about there, Luce." He shrugged, "You're my light. My life has been in darkness for so long….and you brought light back into it, and….joy."

He watched as she stood to move closer to him. He could see a single tear glisten on her cheek. "You okay?"

"Yeah." She knelt beside him, pressing a quick kiss to his forehead. "Thank you, for that."

He stretched his arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer. "Any time, baby-doll."

* * *

They sat in silence for a few moments, comfortable leaning against each other. Lucy tensed as she heard a rustling in the bushes beside the Lifeboat. She calmed, as she heard a familiar voice call out:

"Is it safe to come back?"

"Why wouldn't it be safe?" asked Wyatt, giving her shoulder a quick squeeze.

"You know," came Rufus' voice, "No kanoodling?"

"When have we ever….." began Lucy, but she paused, noting her current position leaning against Wyatt's side. "Never mind. But it's safe, come on out."

Rufus came out around from the back of the Lifeboat-rock, and settled himself on the ground by the fire, opposite his team mates. His eyebrow went up when he saw the close proximity of his friends, but Lucy shot him a glance, imploring him not to say anything. Whether because of her look or just his better judgement, Rufus changed the subject.

"Glad I had the glow stick, it is really _dark_ out there, you know? And it's starting to get pretty chilly, too." With that he jumped to his feet again, going to the wagon and pulling two blankets from their wrapper.

"Here," he handed the larger of the two to Wyatt and Lucy. "You guys get to share."

"While you're there," said Wyatt, "Do you see that other wrapped package, beside the side board? Grab it for me, would you?"

Rufus picked it up and tore off the wrapping, revealing a bottle of whisky.

"Figured we should have a Christmas drink together," said Wyatt.

"Nice," Rufus moved back to sit between the wagon and the fire, just beside Lucy, and wrapped his blanket around his shoulders. "Ladies first," he said, opening the bottle, and handing it to Lucy.

She laughed as she accepted it, "What, no glasses?"

She saw Wyatt smile, in response to her laugh. "Nope, we're roughing it tonight."

She took a swig of the liquid, coughing a little, as it burned her throat, then passed it along to Rufus. She moved to sit against Wyatt's side, wrapping the large blanket around both of their shoulders.

She sat quietly for a moment, watching the fire. Rufus must have noticed the change in her expression.

"You okay?"

She smiled at him, "Yeah, just thinking….about Christmas. Christmases past, and present….musing about Christmases future."

Wyatt squeezed her shoulder again. "I'm sorry you're stuck here for Christmas, Luce….and you too, Rufus."

She laid her head against that space between his shoulder and his neck.

"So, when I'm catching up with colleagues from the University, and they say 'How did you spend Christmas, Lucy?' What exactly am I supposed to say?"

Wyatt pressed a fleeting 'almost not-there' kiss to her hair, "You could just tell them that you sat around a campfire in your underwear with your new work colleagues."

"Yeah," said Rufus, "Drinking wicked strong whisky straight from the bottle." He passed the bottle to Wyatt.

"Uh huh," said Wyatt, taking a drink himself before passing the bottle back to Lucy. "That stuff _is_ ….strong. Really is deserving of the title fire-water, isn't it? But definitely, you should say that too, just don't leave out the _in your underwear_ part."

"Thank you to the smart-assed peanut gallery," she grumbled, a smile spreading across her face, showing that she didn't mean the cutting words. She pulled the blanket tighter around both her and Wyatt. "I could say that….but I think I'll just go for the truth."

"The truth," said Wyatt, pulling his head back a little to look her in the eye. "Don't forget that little non-disclosure confidentiality legal thing there, Luce."

Rufus nodded, "Uh huh."

"No," she said, "I mean that I'll tell them I had a delicious meal with my two best friends, exchanging gifts, sharing a drink—the whole thing. It sounds like a pretty good way to spend Christmas, doesn't it?"

"It is a pretty good way to spend Christmas," Wyatt agreed.

Rufus stretched, and moved closer to the fire before taking another sip of the drink. "You guys know I was wanting to be with Jiya, and Mom, and Kevin….but this is nice. And I know Jiya and I will just celebrate when we get back—and even my Mom will probably insist on cooking the Christmas meal all over again. So, in a weird way, I'm glad we're here."

Lucy smiled. "So I guess we should actually be thanking Emma for this one?"

"Not sure I'd go quite that far," said Wyatt, "Although this little….break….in the past," he looked up at the stars that were just starting to come out above their heads, then looked back at his friends, "It's nice."

Lucy looked up, too. "Stars," she said simply.

Wyatt smiled. "Stille nacht," he whispered.

"You know," Rufus began, throwing a dried twig into the fire and watching it snap and sputter until it caught flame, "Once you ignore the enormous responsibility of it all….and the nearly constant threat of death or dismemberment….this whole thing….it's just so…. I mean, holy shit guys, we're _time travelers_."

Wyatt chuckled lightly. "I know….it's surreal, if you let yourself think about it too hard. When I was a kid, I would read all these stories about time travel—everything from H. G. Wells to Choose Your Own Adventure….and here we are, actually _doing_ it."

Lucy nodded. "Yeah—not bad at all, is it?"

Rufus grinned, and we've got each other….the best team a guy could ask for. I guess it's a pretty rich life we're living."

She nodded, raising the bottle in toast, "You're right….to the kings….and queen….of time."

Wyatt pulled away from her then, standing as he wrapped the blanket tighter about her.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Just thought I should get our gifts together, we'll put them back in the Lifeboat." She didn't miss the fact that he'd bent down and pocketed the stone carving she had given him, before starting to collect the other gifts.

"So, by the way," began Rufus, "Did you guys talk?"

Lucy shrugged, and said simply, "Yes."

"So you know that Wyatt got you the lantern because you bring light into his life?"

"Wait, how did you….?" Lucy saw Wyatt straightened suddenly, out of the corner of her eye.

"Seriously? You guys do realize I've worked with Plexiglas less transparent than the two of you, right? He got you the lantern to represent light, and you got him the stone carving because he's your rock."

"See, you're wrong there. I said _touchstone_."

He shrugged, "Potato, pot-ah-to, close enough. And, in case you're wondering….those are _much_ better explanations than the first ones you used."

"Glad to know we have your stamp of approval," Wyatt said, as he arranged the gifts into a box.

Lucy looked at them, the fire light bouncing and dancing off the bits of glass and metal. "I guess it's not exactly gold, frankincense, and myrrh, is it?"

Wyatt looked at the box, and back at Lucy and Rufus by the fire. "I don't know, it's pretty close….I mean, we've kind of got it all here—gifts representing friendship, laughter, compassion. And a rock—a touchstone—it's kind of like home, family. And don't forget the light and the joy." He trailed off, looking at the box of gifts, then back to his friends.

Rufus smiled, nodding toward Wyatt, "Seems like you found your Christmas spirit after all."

Lucy nodded, "Maybe we all did."

She watched as Wyatt loaded the box back into the Lifeboat, then returned by the fire. She opened the blanket, inviting him to sit back beside her, which he did without comment, and she wrapped the blanket around them both.

"Rufus, you said your Mom always reads you and your brother 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, right?"

"Yeah, she's probably reading it right now, in fact."

Lucy snuggled in closer against Wyatt, and he brought the blanket up until it was covering her shoulders. She gave a tiny sigh of contentment. "Why don't you recite it for us?"

"Me? I….i don't know if I remember it all…."

Wyatt glanced down at Lucy, bringing his arm more tightly around her, staring at her hopeful eyes, "You've heard it every year? Of course you remember it."

Lucy didn't miss the fact that Rufus shot Wyatt a look at that, but she gazed back at him with steady eyes, until he relented.

He shrugged, "Okay, let's give it a go: 'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house….'"

A string of disconnected yet related thoughts danced through Lucy's head—family and friendship, loyalty and trust, light and joy, faith and possibility. She snuggled closer against Wyatt's side. Her life truly was rich with friends...a real family. Even though there were people missing, people she desperately hoped would be returned by next Christmas, that didn't change the fact that here, around this fire, she had the light and love of friendship in her life. And that gave her a sense of confidence, of optimism, that maybe there was still hope, possibility... Her mind circled back to her original thoughts, as she felt Wyatt shift beside her, holding her closer. The thoughts filled her with a warmth and calm that she hadn't felt since her mother had told her...

"'...But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight— _Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!_ '" Rufus grinned at his friends across the dying flames of the camp fire, and mimed dropping a microphone.

"Yeah—that's the way to do it," Wyatt released the blanket around his and Lucy's shoulders to applaud.

"Okay, so maybe I do remember the whole thing."

"You know what?" said Lucy, "Listening to you tell that story really did make me feel like a kid again….made me forget about all the….stuff going on. Thank you."

"Ahhhh—so now I officially have Wyatt finding his Holiday spirit, and Lucy feeling like a kid at Christmas. I think my work this Christmas Eve is done! And now," he stretched climbing to his feet, "Thank you all, for the meal, for the gifts—they really mean a lot to me. But I think I'm going to retire to the Lifeboat for the night."

Lucy scrunched her nose, "Wait—why do you get to sleep in the Lifeboat? Who decided that?"

He shook his head in what appeared to be mock exasperation. "Because it is painfully obvious that you guys need to talk."

Wyatt raised an eyebrow. "We _did_ talk."

"You may have started the conversation, but between your gifts for each other and what went down in the present just before we jumped….well, you need to talk some more." He paused, seeming that he might say more. He apparently made his decision quickly, because before either of them could respond, he continued: "And you know what? It's more than that, actually. You need to get your shit in line….and I mean that in the nicest way possible….but I really don't want to be around for that conversation. So….hence me getting the Lifeboat."

He looked quickly between their two shocked faces. "Besides, in addition to reading to my brother me every Christmas Eve, my Mom also always told us that the animals talk at midnight on Christmas, and I don't really want to see that, either." He glanced purposefully toward the two horses they had rented. "I mean, time travel is hard enough for me to wrap my head around….i really don't need Mr. Ed over there mocking me for not being as good a rider as I like to think I am."

He tossed his blanket toward them, and palmed open the Lifeboat door, revealing the Lifeboat interior, seeming to appear from nowhere in the middle of the strange-looking rock. "So, merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, joyous Kwanzaa….and I'll see you in the morning. And although I definitely won't be listening….and, in case you're wondering, the lifeboat is totally noise proof, thank goodness….but there better be talking out here, and I mean it! No more excuses!"

He pulled himself into the Lifeboat, then hung out the opening, giving a wink and saying, "Merry Christmas, guys." With that he closed the hatch of the Lifeboat, and Lucy and Wyatt were left staring at a strange-looking rock, with nothing but the snapping of the campfire breaking the stillness of the night.

"Well," said Lucy.

"Yeah," Wyatt agreed.

* * *

After Rufus closed the door of the Lifeboat behind him, the two sat in silence for a moment. It seemed like an eternity to Wyatt, even though he knew it truth it had only been a few seconds, a few heartbeats.

"So," he began carefully, "Seems like Rufus had a message for us there."

She nodded.

Wyatt sighed, "He's not wrong….we've both gotten….pretty good at the not talking thing, at least—I know _I_ have."

She looked at him, seeming to study him carefully, "Where did that….come from, do you think? We're usually pretty good at that….at the talking thing, I mean."

"Yeah….we are. But this…..it's different."

"Why?"

He chuckled lightly, "Because I'm scared."

She smiled at that, "Me too. But, you weren't scared before. Just before Emma took the Mothership, before I moved in with you….you talked about….possibilities."

He scoffed. "My vague mention about unspecified possibilities with someone not clearly delineated? Yeah, that was a real brave statement to make."

"But I knew what you meant, we both did."

He nodded. "After Emma, and your Mother….things just seemed….wrong. I thought….I thought you needed a friend, I didn't want to complicate things."

"You were right, I did need a friend. I still do. But this," she motioned between the two of them, "This is always complicated, no matter how we define it….but that's okay."

"It is?"

"Yes. So anyway...I seem to recollect that, once I moved out….you asked me out."

"I did. And you accepted."

She grinned, shyly. "I did."

He shifted then, pulling her closer against him, until she was almost in his lap, and wrapping the blanket tighter around them. "I had this idea in my head. I wanted….i thought that maybe we could spend Christmas…. _together_. Not that it worked out that way."

"We are together, and it is Christmas….and I'm happy. And, I think you might be too?"

"I am happy, Luce. But that date…."

"Ugh." She pulled a corner of the blanket over her face in embarrassment. "How about we just don't mention that date again."

"I'd be okay with that. But," he considered his next words carefully, "Why do you think it was such a mess? Is there something about us—"

"No….you can't think that. Nothing that happened was your fault, it wasn't my fault either….just some bad luck." She turned her head, staring into the fire. If anything was anybody's fault….maybe it was mine….I just wanted everything to be perfect…."

"Your fault? Then it was mine too...I was trying way too hard."

She smiled. "Someone wise told me that they thought we both….had expectations that weren't realistic."

"Someone wise, eh? Kind of sounds like something Rufus said to me."

"Yeah….well I think he could qualify as someone wise. And now, after tonight's rant….apparently our _possibilities_ have been hard on him?"

"Hard on _him_?" Wyatt snorted. "If he thinks it's been hard on him, what does he think it's like on _us_?"

"Wait—this has been hard on you? What part?"

"What….part?" he stared at her carefully, then said, "Hasn't it been hard on you too?"

"I asked you first."

He rolled his eyes, about to tell her there was no way he was getting into this conversation, but then he relented. What possible reason did he _not_ have to start this conversation? He squeezed her shoulders. "It's been really hard, Luce….being with you, like all the time—at work, doing groceries, watching moves….but not really _being with you_. It's been hard when I touch you all the time—ushering you through a door, buckling your belt, all kinds of things….but still not being able to touch you the way I really want to…."

"How do you really want to touch me?"

He gave her a knowing smile.

"But, why didn't you say something….or do something…."

"Like I said, I was….scared of how you would react. Even though it was hard, being with you all the time but not in the way I wanted to be with you….imagining scaring you away, of you not in my life at all….that was so much harder."

She must have seen questioning in his eyes then, as she rushed to tell him, "All those things….they're really hard for me, too. And I'm….scared of….what you were scared of, too."

"Well," he shifted, wrapping his arms around her. "It is Christmas, maybe we should both try not being scared."

She nodded, quickly, "I think I'd….like that."

"So, in that spirit," he began, "Lucy Preston. I think I should tell you that, I believe I am falling in love with you."

He smiled inwardly at the sight of her mouth falling open. He had surprised her.

"What," he asked innocently, "Is that so hard to believe?"

"No….I mean…..no. Because I think I am too." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Falling in love with you, I mean."

They stared at each other for a heartbeat.

"So," she said, "After our night out….you don't think I'm high-maintenance and clumsy?"

"Never."

"Well….I am clumsy."

He shrugged. "And, after that night….you don't think I'm selfish or insensitive?"

"No—I would never think that."

They stared at each other for another heartbeat.

"You know," she began, "I think I see the problem here. We're talking about our first date again….and we agreed not to mention it."

"What date?"

She laughed. "Can we go back to that….other thing that we both said?"

"What, that we think we're falling in love?"

"Yeah, that." She sighed as he pulled her nearer still, faces inches apart. But then he saw a shadow pass in front of her eyes.

"What is it?"

She glanced away, but didn't pull back. "It's just….I know you said you're ready for this…."

"I am."

"But, isn't it more than that? I mean we work together, in a very dangerous job, and common sense would tell us that's never a good idea…..starting a romantic relationship in that kind of environement….no matter what we might be feeling."

He nodded slowly. "You may be right. That is what common sense would say. So maybe you….and me…." He kissed her forehead lightly, "Maybe we just need to go on faith."

"Faith?"

"Um-hm. Faith is believing in something when common sense tells you not to."

She pulled back her head slightly, to look him in the eye. "Wait, isn't that from—?"

"Miracle on 34th Street? Yeah."

"I thought you said Christmas movies weren't very good."

He shrugged slightly. "I like that one. To be honest….I like a number of them."

She smiled, "I knew it."

Before she could say another word he leaned in, and whispered conspiratorially in her ear: "We've been doing a lot of waiting….the two of us. I don't want to wait anymore."

"Not another second," she replied.

And the distance between them disappeared. The kiss was gentle at first, slow and exploring, though it quickly deepened, continuing until they had to come up for air. They stared at each other, the fire crackling and popping in front of them.

"Wow." She managed.

He nodded, and leaned in for another kiss.

Eventually they parted, pressing their foreheads together.

"Luce, you should try and get some sleep. I'll stay up, watch over the camp."

"You don't need to….I mean, wake me in a few hours, I can take over."

"We'll see."

She fixed him with a hard look. "You have no intention of waking me, do you?"

"It's Christmas. Santa won't come if you're not sleeping."

She ran her fingers along his cheek. "That's okay; I've already got everything I wanted."

He smiled, "Me too. Come on, he released her, grabbing Rufus' abandoned blanket as a second layer, and pulling her back until they were under the wagon. "In case it rains." He wrapped them both in the double layer of blankets. "It'll be okay—me watching the camp, I mean. With Emma gone, there's no real issue. The animals around here are more afraid of us than we are of them."

She nodded, curling her body against his.

"Besides, if they talk at midnight, I can just reason with them, if they want to eat us."

"Convenient," she murmured. He could tell she was already near to drifting off.

"Hey, Luce," he said softly.

"Yeah?"

"Since the whole spending Christmas together thing didn't work out quite as I'd planned….I've been wondering…."

"Um-hm?"

"What are you doing New Years' Eve?"

He heard a slight affirmative reply to that. He brushed her errant curls back from her cheek, and realized that she was already sleeping. "Schlaf in himmlischer ruh," he murmured, pulling her tighter against him.

* * *

Rufus emerged from his Lifeboat cocoon the next morning to find his two team mates curled around each other, covered in the blankets, the fire mere embers beside them. Both were asleep. But there was something else he noticed, as well.

"Hey guys, guys?" He grinned, seeing two sets of eyes open and blearily focus on him. "You're not going to believe this—it snowed!"

"What?" asked Wyatt as he sat up quickly, narrowly missing banging his head on the wagon.

"Snowed?" asked Lucy.

"It's a white Christmas!" said Rufus gleefully.

"But here," began Wyatt, standing beside the wagon and offering his hand to Lucy, "It's May…."

"Freak weather system I guess," she mused.

"Merry Christmas everybody!" said Rufus, throwing some snow in the air.

"Merry Christmas," they responded, in near unison.

He smiled at them, then. "So—did you guys talk?"

"We always talk," said Wyatt.

Rufus shot him his best 'hurt' expression. "Yeah….but did you _talk_?"

Lucy sighed, "Yeah, we talked."

"And?"

"And none of your business," said Wyatt.

"Oooooh," began Rufus, rubbing his hands with joy. "Pretty darned sure this is my business, actually. It's the _definition_ of my business, given what you guys put me through."

At that moment he saw the fleeting glance his friends exchanged, and he had his answer. "Aaaahhhh. You did talk."

"That's what we said."

"And it went well! I am so stoked for you guys…. But now….I think I need to see proof."

"What?" asked Lucy.

"Proof. I. Want. Proof. For Jiya."

"What….do you mean?" asked Wyatt.

"I mean….pucker up—lay one on her."

"Are you crazy?"

"Come on, it's my Christmas wish….don't make me break out the emergency mistletoe."

Lucy laughed. "Fine," and she leaned in, kissing Wyatt strongly.

"It's a Christmas miracle!" said Rufus. "But, now that that's over with….new rule: No making out in front of Rufus, unless it's like _extreme_ extenuating circumstances. And no doing _nothin'_ in the lifeboat, even when I'm not around—"

He was a second too late, seeing it out of the corner of his eye, as Wyatt's carefully crafted snowball smacked him in the side of the head.

Rufus pressed his hand over the coldness left by the snowball. "Oh hoh….you're on, brother."

Lucy watched as the two men started firing well-aimed snowballs at each other, laughing and jeering each other like children. She thought about the day, Christmas, and what it represented. Maybe she had been wrong to be so full of melancholy, earlier. It had been a special Christmas, and she wouldn't have wanted to miss any of this. And there was so very much to celebrate, this Holiday Season. She was pulled quickly from her thoughts by the feeling of cold and wet against her skin, as Wyatt ran behind her, tossing snow under the neckline of her chemise.

"Wyatt!" she called, stomping her foot in the snow.

And then she joined in.

* * *

 _Merry Christmas to all my 'Timeless' friends!_


End file.
